No extra money is being set aside to raise awareness.

Fans pass around a giant Canadian flag during the singing of the national anthem as the Ottawa Senators prepare to play the Calgary Flames' in Ottawa Feb. 9, 2010.

OTTAWA — There will be no extra money set aside to inform Canadians about forthcoming changes to the lyrics of O Canada, which are expected to become official in the coming days.

The anthem's new gender-neutral language will be introduced as part of the normal reprinting of government material, so there will be no additional costs, a spokesman for the Canadian Heritage department said Tuesday.

Online materials will be the first to change, and the government will inform "partners and stakeholders" so they can make their own revisions, said David Larose.

"Equality of all genders should be reflected in our national symbols, as we believe that a more inclusive Canada is a stronger Canada," he added.

The change is the culmination of a years-long effort by former MP Mauril Belanger to change the anthem's second line from "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command."

Belanger was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, following the 2015 election.

He died two months after the House of Commons passed the bill in June 2016, but the Senate took until last week to approve the new wording.

Chris Wattie / Reuters
Liberal MP Mauril Belanger receives a standing ovation while voting on his private member's bill to change the national anthem in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill on June 15, 2016.

All that remains for the bill to become law is for the Governor General to give royal assent, a step that Liberal MP Mona Fortier, Belanger's successor in his Ottawa-Vanier riding, believes will happen in the next few days.

The government should invest in a public education campaign to promote the new lyrics, especially with the launch of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, later this week, Fortier said Monday.

The Canadian Olympic Committee has asked athletes competing in the games to use the new wording.

Fortier said she intends to spread the word about the new lyrics and suggested distributing promotional material, such as flyers and bookmarks, to inform Canadians about the new language.

National Hockey League spokesman Gary Meagher said adjustments will be made once the new lyrics become official.

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David Nelson, associate superintendent of the Vancouver School Board, said his school district will also adopt the new lyrics once they are officially changed.

"The revised lyrics would be sung at school and district events where the anthem is sung," he said.

The words to O Canada have changed on several occasions, though not since 1980, when it became the official national anthem.

There have been at least 10 attempts since then to amend the lyrics to make them more gender inclusive, including one earlier attempt by Belanger.

The anthem's music and French lyrics were written in 1880, with English following 28 years later.

Robert Stanley Weir, who wrote the English version, added "in all thy sons command" in place of the original "thou dost in us command" in the early 20th century in what is believed to have been a salute to men in the Armed Forces as the First World War approached.